This year’s Utah Sports Hall of Fame Coaches’ Leadership Symposium features two of Davis County’s own in Bountiful High alum Dave Checketts, a renowned sports executive, and former Davis High boys basketball coach Jay Welk. 

Checketts will be a keynote speaker and Welk will join six other USHOF athletes and coaches as presenters at the event that will be held Sat. Jan. 20 at Davis High School from 9 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Registration for the symposium titled “For the Love of Sport: Your Leadership Matters” costs $60 is open to youth, scholastic and amateur coaches of all levels. 

Checketts was the Utah Jazz president in the 1980s and then moved to the East Coast to work with the New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers until 2001. Four years later, he founded Real Salt Lake and was integral in the building of RSL’s home stadium – Rio Tinto – in Sandy. His impact in the state led to his induction into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame two years ago.

Welk was the Davis High boys basketball coach for 24 seasons and led the Darts to the 2002 state championship, two runner-up finishes and three other top-five showings in the state tournament. After coaching 550 games – posting a 351-199 record – and leading Davis to 10 region titles, he retired from coaching in 2014.

To register for the conference intended to inspire and motivate coaches on the critical role they play in the lives of their athletes, visit leadership.ushoff.org.